Topic: McCleary

You could call it The “Go Pound Sand” Act of 2015. In a shot at the state Supreme Court, 19 state representatives — including three Democrats — have filed House Bill 1051, which would turn races for the state’s high court into partisan contests. (The court’s nine justices are now elected in nonpartisan races.) The…

The statewide initiative to reduce K-12 class sizes widened its lead Saturday. As of Saturday evening, I-1351 was passing with 50.5 percent of the vote, a lead of 18,495 votes. The widening margin is due largely to the measure’s popularity in King County, where more votes were counted Saturday and I-1351 has now captured 54.5 percent of…

OLYMPIA — State House Republicans unveiled an education budget proposal Thursday that would increase K-12 spending by $556 million without raising taxes over the next two years. The budget would dedicate $817 million to respond to a state Supreme Court order to increase basic education funding, including by expanding full-day kindergarten, reducing class sizes in kindergarten…

OLYMPIA — Struggling to respond to a state Supreme Court order to put more money into education, some state Senate Republicans on Wednesday came up with a way to save a bit of money: reduce the size of the court. Senate Bill 5867, introduced Wednesday morning, would reduce the court from nine members to five…

OLYMPIA — The state Senate narrowly approved two contentious education policy bills Wednesday after a heated debate. The bills, to give A-F letter grades to schools and to give principals a veto in teacher placements, are top Republican priorities but are strongly opposed by Democrats. The letter grades passed 26-23, while the principal veto passed 27-22 —…

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Politics Northwest is the go-to blog for politics in our region. The blog explores national, state and local political news and issues. Reporters from Washington, D.C., to Seattle City Hall to the state capital in Olympia contribute. Editors are Richard Wagoner and Beth Kaiman.